HQ Eldar - First wave on its way home

As most of you know, the Warhost is completely commission painted by a number of artists globally. One lad, Vincent, has held the reigns over all HQ models (with the exception of Warlocks). The good news? He's on the home stretch! In recent times, Vincent has switched from commission painting to his own personal line of miniatures - Limbo Miniatures - As you might imagine, running your own business takes up a fair chunk of time :)

Luckily, Vincent has been gracious enough to finish off the HQ models, being his last comission - for which I am immensely grateful. One look at the quality and how he has given each model its own uniqueness while keeping the theme, and you will see why I'm pretty thrilled he has stuck with me getting these HQ models done over the years. They've all come out absolutely stunning!

See below for a line up of all the models to date Vincent has completed for the Dras'Volharr...

Commissioned Sculpt - Warp Spider Phoenix Lord WIP

When a miniature doesn't exist that you know is needed to make an already comprehensive Warhost that little more complete, what do you do? Put the feelers out for the best sculptors you can get your hands on and see what happens.

Well, something did happen, or I should say... is happening. Meet the WIP Warp Spider Phoenix Lord Mariano Pagotti is working on.

After a number of concept art pieces were submitted to Mariano, an agreement was made to see how badarse the elusive model could be manifested to life. Afterall, no one likes anything done by halves in this hobby.

So, with the cat out of the bag... or spider in this case, stay tuned for updates as this little ball of hurt grows into one of the missing pieces so wished for over the years.

Build it and they will come - A new unique sculpt

When you've got the bulk of prototype and unreleased miniatures in a collection, sometimes the next step is to start commissioning your own unique pieces to fill in the gaps.

Thanks to a friend of mine, I've been put in touch with a very talented individual who has taken on the job to do just that! A Mr Mariano Pagotti. Below is an example of his work with the Eldar's primary enemy;

So what is this gap filling piece you ask? Well, for now that's a bit of a secret - although as a hint, its a piece many Eldar players have wondered about for a good long while now. Let's just say it will have a nice little bit of back history in the Dras'Volharr tome once drafted.

On a side note, the display case is coming along nicely - having given up on the cabinet making industry, I decided to build it myself, for a total of 8.1 m2 of surface area over five shelves. The perks of building such a monster yourself is you can phase it in to suit a budget.

Very much looking forward to seeing the Warhost displayed on plexiglass LED lit shelving with the future intent of Mr.Helge's battle scape acting as a backdrop in due course.

Stay tuned, concept details to come over the next fortnight for this unique addition ;)

Maugan Ra and Taldeer (DoW Farseer)

A couple of goodies graced my inbox today, it seems Mr.Vincent has definitely been tinkering away on a couple of the HQ models recently and definitely surprised me with these two new additions to the Warhost. As always, they're gorgeous...

For those of you unfamiliar with the Farseer, it is a fan made customer Dawn of War Taldeer... who got a makeover in the recent screen shots from DoW3, as a frickin Wraithknight incarnate - Yes, that's right... Taldeer, a Farseer as a Wraithknight. And you thought Eldrad was a dick. Prepare your anus monkey men.

As for Mr.Ra, well.. I think he will look smug flanked by 50 of his Aspect Kin. Good times ahead!

White Seer WIP - Juan Diaz Test Sculpt

Today I have some pretty groovy news, as Vincent (aka Duskfrost) has sent over some WIP shots of the Eldar White Seer. The model itself was one of the four test sculpt Juan Diaz did for Games Workshop many years ago, which were each 1 of 12. This sculpt is probably the rarest out there presently of the four, as i've seen many resculpts of the other three over time.

So what is a White Seer? Glad you asked. They're the link between Craftworld Eldar and the Black Library, commonly associated with the Harlequins. Serving as psychic guardians of the Black Library, their purpose is to acquire knowledge of Chaos for use in defending it. This little guy will soon be accompanied by his pet Gyrinx (a limited release model in the UK) over the next few weeks - hence the larger 60mm scenic base as I wanted these two rare models to have their own small diorama of sorts.

The White Seer fits into the Dras'Volharr story line as a previous expat of the Craftworld, bringing back a Masque of Harlequins to join the Crafworlders in activating an ancient Webway Gate - to reintegrate the last wave of a defending Warhost prior to the world's desolation. Yep, this is where all the Rogue Trader Eldar come in. A clash of new and old across almost 95,000 points of Eldar goodness. On to the pretty pictures...

Eldar Warp Spider Alternatives - Review Time!

I thought it might be about time to do a review of the 3rd party Warp Spiders (note, they're not called this officially) seen on this blog a few months back now, if anything to showcase just how clean these miniatures are and the quality of the product.

Highlights -

1. VERY crisp lines
2. High quality resin
3. No defects or bubbles
4. This stuff doesn't warp (just on the tabletop haha)
5. ALL weapon options represented for the Exarch

Cons -

1. Games Workshop dropped the ball here.
2. Games Workshop should offer the creator a job. Yesterday.

The kit itself comes with an extra Exarch head alternative and each model is dynamically posed. So you can go absolutely silly with options if you so choose. On to the photos...

 

*Above: The assembled kits in all their glory

 

*Above: 27 Warp Spiders and accompanying Exarchs 

*Above: Warp Spider Exarch sprue with all options

  

 *Above: Close Combat arms for Jetbikers (just a little extra thrown in)

Monofilament Fun - 3rd Party Warp Spiders

Well i've heard back from my mate overseas and the latest project of sculpting greatness has been finished. Note that they aren't actually called Warp Spiders, but that's what i'll be using them as - they do make excellent stand in Warp Spiders until Games Workshop releases new sculpts all things considered.

Jes Goodwin Jetbikes en mass

... Or "field of furious carrots", if you prefer.

Navin from PaintedFigs.com has come back with a shot of the 47/60 Jes Goodwin Jetbike resculpts. In short, that's quite a few twin linked shuriken catapults. The full compliment of Jetbikes and styles are more than I can count on both hands at this stage, from the Games Workshop variety, to custom sculpts and resculpts... of all shapes and sizes.

These new additions will certainly be quite interesting when I swing by the local GW store. The next tricky bit is finding a means of storing them all.

Note: The two shots below were WIP - gems have been coloured in etc beyond this.

Next up, Swooping Hawks!..